TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Senate voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to send President Barack Obama a message that it opposes his decision to renew diplomatic relations with Cuba.

The three-page message to Obama and Congress expresses “profound disagreement” with the president’s decision last December to restore relations with the communist nation just 90 miles off the Florida coast. It says Fidel and Raul Castro have mistreated Cuban citizens since they took power in 1959.

06/13/14 - 12:30am

TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday threw out the conviction of an Indiana man sentenced to death 25 years after a slaying that had no suspects until DNA on a cigarette butt was re-examined years after the crime.

The court ruled that the evidence against Carl Dausch wasn’t sufficient to convict him of the July 1987 murder of Adrian Mobley. Dausch was placed on death row in 2012.

05/26/14 - 12:05am

TAMPA — At a recent meeting, the Tampa Bay Young Republicans recited the Pledge of Allegiance, prayed and then tackled the night’s topic: marijuana.

Their guest? Personal injury lawyer John Morgan, a huge Democratic Party donor campaigning to legalize medical marijuana in Florida. Months earlier, the same group supported a Supreme Court opinion that was a victory for gay marriage advocates even as Republican leaders insisted marriage should be between only a man and a woman.

TALLAHASSEE — A strain of low-potency marijuana would be legal in Florida to treat epilepsy and cancer patients under a bill passed by the Legislature on Friday.

The measure — met with skepticism when first proposed — passed with strong support in both chambers after lawmakers heard stories of children suffering from seizures who could be helped by the marijuana strain, known as Charlotte’s Web.

The bill passed the Senate 30-9 Friday, a day after the House supported it 111-7. Gov. Rick Scott has said he’ll sign it.

04/04/14 - 12:17am

TALLAHASSEE — This year’s gubernatorial race could have even greater implications if a proposed constitutional amendment on Florida Supreme Court appointments is approved.

The Senate voted 26-14 on Thursday to place a question on the fall ballot that could mean an outgoing governor would make appointments to the Supreme Court for vacancies that are created the same day a new governor is sworn in.

Florida voters can get used to hearing that over and over again between now and November — just as Scott repeatedly made the point during the bill signing ceremony — now that then-Republican Crist is seeking his old job as a Democrat.

“Why are we here? We’re here because in 2009 Charlie Crist raised this tax. We’re going to right the wrong of this 2009 tax increase that Charlie Crist enacted,” Scott said.

With those words, Florida Highway Patrol Trooper John Schultz sped onto Interstate 10 and flipped on his red, white and blue flashing lights and pulled over a black Nissan Maxima. He told the driver she was getting a ticket for exceeding the 70 mph speed limit.

“She said, ‘I had the cruise control set at 79.’ Yeah, it’s working,” Schultz said as he wrote the ticket. “She said ‘I just assumed I could go 10 over.’ So if we change the limit to 75, she’d be going 85.”

TALLAHASSEE — Former Florida Gov. Reubin Askew was remembered Wednesday as a man who led as he lived — loving people and treating all as equals.

Friends and family remembered him as a governor of courage and conviction at a time of great social upheaval, a father and husband who cared deeply for his wife Donna Lou and their children, and as a kind, caring man who lived up to the idea that he should love others as he would want to be loved.